It is not what you are thinking; but it can also be what you are thinking. Yes! Please be free to think whatever you want to think after all we are in a free world. There is a popular axiom, “drastic situations require drastic measures”.  This axiom sums up precisely what Nigeria needs at this moment in history.  Our Nation’s current level of hardship and hopelessness has reached an alarming proportion. The apathy of the Nigerian people to their freedom and emancipation from the jaws of a few political elite is at an all-time high. No one seems to bother anymore about our collective aspiration. It is now a case of survival of the ‘fittest and elimination of the unfit’. Our faculties have become environmentally manipulated to grab what one can and pursue daily survival either by hook or crook. Another election season - 2023 is on the horizon and the bags of trickery are being delivered out of the warehouses of our political vultures once again.

This writer like many others have been sermonising on some of the core issues bedevilling our politics cum national development. Alarm bells have been ringing and credible solutions proffered in some instances, but the impact of such postulations remains to be seen or palpated. Certainly, we must keep pushing the narrative of our shared humanity and nationhood. Since the concepts of shared humanity and nationhood are a state of mind, it means Nigeria will not change until a greater majority of Nigerians, make a paradigm shift to decide once and for all that we are ready to make it happen. Angels are not going to come down from heaven to do it for us. It is ours to do. We the Nigerian people are the ones to make it happen.

The sight or hearing of the word, revolution elicits instant and varied reactions. For those in Power (the rulers in Government) it is an anathema for citizens to write this word or say this word. Anytime they hear or see this word, we know that their hearts go into a gallop with the thought that it means ‘Treason` until proven otherwise. For those of us on the other side of the divide, it is however not what we mean. Mindset reset is what the word revolution means to us. Talking of early beliefs about revolution, the Encyclopaedia Britannica states inter alia, “Though the idea of revolution was originally related to the Aristotelian notion of cyclical alterations in the forms of government, it now implies a fundamental departure from any previous historical pattern. A revolution constitutes a challenge to the established political order and the eventual establishment of a new order radically different from the preceding one”. Such revolutions change not only the system of government but also the economic system, the social structure, and the cultural values of those societies unquote. Furthermore, revolutions of the type described by Aristotle, begins in the minds and hearts of the people.  It is true that a lot of people will think about violence and the use of force at the mention of revolution, but that is not the advocacy of this writeup. This is about us - the Nigerian people changing our lives and those of our children yet unborn with the magic formula of our mindset reset ab initio. Beneath are some of the fundamental frameworks that will bring this mind set change to fruition. Let`s go!

The first mindset reset Nigerians must make is to have the `supreme belief` that our votes count. Surely it does count! While it is true that in the past, politicians were quick to manipulate election figures, that dark behaviour is waning and almost at a negligible level due to the adoption of new voting technology by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Dear Nigerians, it is time to discard that myopic notion of `our votes don`t matter`. That wrong insinuation is a thought from the pit of hell. Please, let us not be deceived further. `Our mumu` don do` as Charly Boy Oputa would say. If votes don`t matter, how come politicians go the extra mile to induce potential voters with cash and other sundry gifts. Do you think these politicians do not know what they are doing? We the people need to be ahead of some of this demonic lots vying for elective positions.

The second mindset reset is our level of political participation. Only in Nigeria you hear people say unending phrases like, ‘politics is a dirty game’. ‘Politics is not for me’. ‘If you don’t join cults, nothing for you in politics’. I can go on and on. Truth be said, like in any other field of human endeavour, no one is saying politics is for the faint hearted. It is tough, rough, and full of stumble with its ups and downs. Yes, politics can be dirty and stormy but that is not enough for credible, kind-hearted, good citizens to run away from it. If the so-called `good citizens` run away from participating in politics, who then is going to change our society? Is it the so-called bad ones? A wise man once said, “bad people are elected to government by good people who refuse to take part and vote in elections”.  Imagine what our country will be like if millions of our people get involved in party politics at the ward, local government, state, and federal level. Critical decisions will be swayed for the betterment of the ordinary citizens. To be honest, politics goes beyond party candidates whose names eventually make it to the polling unit on election day. A lot happens behind the scenes that culminates to the ballot paper we see on the voting day. 

Since the return to Democratic rule in 1999, the database for number of votes used to elect Nigerian Presidents is worrying. In 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo got 18 million votes. In 2003, that number rose slightly to 24 million votes for him to be re-elected. President Umaru Musa Yar Adua garnered 24 million votes to win in 2007 and Dr Goodluck Jonathan got 22 million votes to clinch the seat in 2011. The incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari had 15.4 million votes to win in 2015 and scored 15.1 million votes to retain it in 2019.  A number of reasons can be adduced for the steady decline in the figures since 1999, top of which is voter apathy. Many Nigerians had this nudge of ‘vote or no vote, who win don win’.  This mindset needs to be reset. Even the Late President Yar Adua (God bless his soul) acknowledged gleefully that the election which brought him to power in 2007 was flawed. 

However bleak the electoral process has been, there are visible improvements. The Edo State Governorship elections of 2020 and the recently concluded 2021 Anambra State Governorship elections have shown that a popular candidate backed by the people can win. In these two examples, we the people came out to vote in our numbers albeit that of Anambra State was low due to obvious extenuating factors.  Those who could not, did everything from wherever they were, thanks to social media to ensure the will of the people prevail.  We were determined to change the tide and chart a new course and ‘we the people’ won both of those elections fair and square.  The new voting technologies such as electronic transmission of results are helping to reduce human contact and tampering of figures. Also, the advent of smartphones means that nefarious activities such as blatant thumb printing of ballot papers and ballot box snatching is waning. Those involved now know that they stand the risk of being recorded and exposed on social media in the blink of an eye. It has served as a deterrent. 

The third mindset reset needed in Nigeria is for the middle and professional class to rise up and take their place in the scheme of things. Abandoning the ship and allowing the ‘moneybags’ to run the show has huge painful ramifications of unimaginable proportions. Think of a Nigeria where the academia, organised labour/trade unions, civil society organisations, students’ union, religious groups, professional bodies/associations, entrepreneurs, and the likes throw their hats in the political ring. Such a coalition will be an immovable force. Nothing will be able to stand in its way. Be it known that such unity of purpose from this diverse group can change the face of our nation. A synergy of this group along with the market women and men, youths and artisans would be unbeatable. Any candidate supported by this mass of citizens is guaranteed a landslide victory at the polls. No ifs, no buts. 

Finally, as we approach the 2023 general elections at all levels, the only way Nigerian people can change the status quo and guarantee a better future is by a revolutionary vote. We must get involved in party politics and be circumspect about candidates presented to us by all the political parties. It is not enough for us to keep playing ‘follow follow’ with the APC, PDP, APGA or the other political parties. It is not enough for us to stay in our churches, mosques and traditional places of worship and say, `we are praying`. Faith without works is dead is an admonition from the Holy Book in James Chapter 2 v 26 following. It is true there is poverty in the land and times are hard. Let us resist any attempt by politicians to buy our votes this time around. Let us resist collecting N500, N1000, N3000, N5000 or like sums from any politician. We will not die of starvation if we don’t collect. A politician that has shared N500, N1000, N3000, N5000 across the land amounting to millions of naira to buy votes will certainly want to recoup such money once elected. Nigerians will have no loci standi to complain, rant or vent in 2024 or 2025 if we make the same mistakes again in the forthcoming 2023 elections. From the local government to state and the federal level we have to be guided. We cannot eat our seeds and expect to harvest crops in due season. The ball certainly is in our court. We also cannot keep doing the same thing every four years and expect a different result. This is the time for a revolutionary vote. “A word” our elders say, “is enough for the wise”. Please, let us be wise!

Dr Agbons is founder of the Institute of Good Governance